Bicycle Days

by John Burnham Schwartz

Book Overview

When Alec Stern arrives in Japan, he discovers a land of opportunity. For only in Tokyo could an impressionable young man fresh out of college find, in one stroke, a new job, a new family, and a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671666002
• ISBN13: 9780671666002
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Summit Books
• Length: 253 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Before "Lost in Translation"

Before the white foreigner in Tokyo became a common premise, this book was published. It was the writer's first novel, and I remember seeing it at the Tattered Cover (Denver's famous independent bookstore) and thinking it would be interesting to read about Tokyo and Japanese culture. This was in 1990 -- way before it became "cool" to ponder Japan (and even before we thought they were going to take us over with their televisions). This was also before there was so much hype surrounding novels, before novels were an event, or were praised for having incomplete sentences, stream of conciousness, and being full of themselves (wow, how genius!). I read this book finally a few days ago (a whole decade plus after buying it -- ooops!). I feel it was truly refreshing to read an old school, straight up novel, minus all the "look at how smart I am". It's a coming of age novel, and it was ahead of the Japan-phile curve. I think the other reviewers are kind of hard on this book (of course the narrator is selfish -- he's a recent college grad -- who isn't selfish at this stage?). The book won't change your life, but it's a good read, and you will feel sympathy for the narrator, who is trying to figure out his place in the world.

An Interesting Look into Japan

I very much enjoyed JBS's style of writing. His insights into contemporary Japanese culture were interestingly put.I was avidly looking forward to his follow-up, but it would seem he is not writing any longer. It' s too bad.